Gen. 

iar4 

C4P  The  Indian  Tribes  of  the  Chicago  Region 

^  With  Special  Reference  to  the  Illinois 

f     2  ^^^  the  Potawatomi 


r.Y 

WILLIAM  DUNCAN  STRONG 

Dbpartment  of  Anthroi>ou)gy,  Columbia  University 

Formerly  Assistant  Curator  of  North  American  Etunoixm:y  and  Archaeology 


Anthropology 

Leaflet  24 
Second  Edition 


FIELD  MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY 

CHICAGO 
1938 


The  Anthropological  Leaflets  of  Field  Museum  are  designed  to 
give  brief,  non-technical  accounts  of  some  of  the  more  interesting 
beliefs,  habits  and  customs  of  the  races  whose  life  is  illustrated 
in  the  Museum's  exhibits. 

ANTHROPOLOGICAL  LEAFLETS  ISSUED  TO  DATE 

1.  The  Chinese  Gateway  {supply  exhausted)      ...     $    — 

2.  Philippine  Forge  Group 10 

3.  Japanese  Collections 20 

4.  New  Guinea  Masks 15 

5.  The  Thunder  Ceremony  of  the  Pawnee 20 

6.  The   Sacrifice   to   the  Morning  Star  by  the  Skidi 

Pawnee 10 

7.  Purification  of  the  Sacred  Bundles,  a  Ceremony  of 

the  Pawnee 10 

8.  Annual  Ceremony  of  the  Pawnee  Medicine  Men      .        .10 

9.  The  Use  of  Sago  in  New  Guinea 10 

10.  Use  of  Human  Skulls  and  Bones  in  Tibet       ...        .10 

11.  The  Japanese   New  Year's   Festival,   Games   and 

Pastimes 15 

12.  Japanese  Costume 20 

13.  Gods  and  Heroes  of  Japan 15 

14.  Japanese  Temples  and  Houses 15 

15.  Use  of  Tobacco  among  North  American  Indians     .        .20 

16.  Use  of  Tobacco  in  Mexico  and  South  America    .     .        .15 

17.  Use  of  Tobacco   in  New  Guinea  and  Neighboring 

Regions 10 

18.  Tobacco  and  Its  Use  in  Asia 25 

19.  Introduction  of  Tobacco  into  Europe 25 

20.  The  Japanese  Sword  and  Its  Decoration 15 

21.  Ivory  in  China 60 

22.  Insect-Musicians  and  Cricket  Champions  of  China    .        .40 

23.  Ostrich  Egg-shell  Cups   of  Mesopotamia  and  the 

Ostrich  in  Ancient  and  Modern  Times     ...        .30 

24.  The   Indian  Tribes  of   the   Chicago    Region    with 

Special    Reference    to    the    Illinois   and   the 
Potawatomi 25 

25.  The  Civilization  of  the  Mayas 60 

26.  The  Early  History  of  Man  {supply  exhausted)   .     .         — 

27.  The  Giraffe  in  History  and  Art 60 

28.  The  Field  Museum- Oxford  University  Expedition 

to  Kish,  Mesopotamia,  1923-1929 50 

29.  Tobacco  and  Its  Use  in  Africa 25 

30.  The  Races  of  Mankind 25 

31.  Prehistoric  Man 25 

32.  Primitive  Hunters  of  Australia .        .30 

33.  Archaeology  of  South  America 75 

CLIFFORD  C.  GREGG,  Director 


FIELD  MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY 
CHICAGO,  U.S.A. 


Leaflet  24 


Plate  I 


•    SIMON  KAHQUADOS 
Potawatomi  Chief,  Rat  River,  Wisconsin 


Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 
Department  of  Anthropology 

CmcAOO.  1938 
Lbaplbt  NuMBm  24 

The  Indian  Tribes  of  the  Chicago  Region 

With  Special  Reference  to  the  Illinois 
and  the  Potawatomi 

PREFATORY  NOTE 

In  August,  1926,  a  new  exhibit  illustrating  the  life 
and  culture  of  the  Potawatomi  Indians  was  placed  in 
James  Nelson  and  Anna  Louise  Raymond  Hall.  At 
the  time  of  the  first  white  settlement  this  Indian  tribe 
inhabited  the  Chicago  region.  It  therefore  seemed 
desirable  to  gather  and  preserve  in  the  Museum  as  many 
relics  as  possible  of  the  former  aborigines  of  our  territory 
and  to  have  a  worthy  representation  of  them  in  the 
exhibits  as  an  illustration  of  an  interesting  chapter  in 
our  local  history.  An  endowment  of  Julius  and  Augusta 
N.  Rosen wald  enabled  the  institution  to  engage  for  this 
purpose  Mr.  M.  G.  Chandler,  who  by  adoption  is  a 
member  of  the  Potawatomi  tribe  and  who  has  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  Central  Algonkian  group.  During  three 
months  in  1925  he  visited  the  Potawatomi  and  such  related 
tribes  as  the  Menominee,  Winnebago,  Sauk,  and  Fox, 
all  widely  scattered,  and  obtained  excellent  results  both 
as  to  collections  and  data.  An  account  of  this  expedition 
is  contained  in  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Director  for  the 
Year  1925  (pp.  427-429).  There  is  also  a  brief  description 
of  the  collections  (pp.  416-417). 


IWU'i'.i 


G-h) 

3 
./3JV 

2  Prefatory  Note 

This  leaflet,  prepared  by  Assistant  Curator  Strong, 
is  based  on  the  material  collected  by  Mr.  Chandler  and 
on  information  supplied  by  him.  The  author  has  like- 
wise utilized  the  existing  literature  and  an  unpublished 
document  in  manuscript  written  by  De  Cannes  in  1721. 

May  this  booklet  appeal  to  all  those  who  are  in 
sympathy  with  the  Indians  and  eager  to  learn  of  the 
past  of  our  country,  and  may  it  stimulate  interest  and 
research  in  our  local  history  and  archaeology. 

Berthold  Laufer 
Late  Curator,  Department  of  Anthropology 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 

The  region  around  the  southern  end  of  Lake  Michi- 
gan where  the  city  of  Chicago  now  stands  has  been  the 
home  of  many  peoples  and  the  scene  of  much  conflict 
in  historic  and  probably  in  prehistoric  times.  It  is  the 
purpose  of  this  essay  to  give  in  a  brief  outline  the 
sequence  of  those  peoples  in  so  far  as  they  are  known, 
and  to  depict  the  background  from  which  emerges  the 
great  commercial  city  of  today.  The  history  of  the 
region  as  it  pertains  to  the  white  man  is  well  known, 
but  before  his  advent  and  during  the  stirring  conflicts 
of  colonial  times  the  various  Indian  tribes  of  the  Great 
Lakes  played  a  large  part,  and  it  is  with  the  Indians 
that  this  article  is  mainly  concerned. 


ILLINOIS  BEFORE  THE  BEGINNING 
OF  HISTORY 

Like  all  the  neighboring  states,  Illinois  has  long 
been  noted  for  the  various  mounds  and  earthworks 
within  her  borders,  and  the  nature  of  these  aroused  the 
curiosity  of  even  the  first  settlers  in  the  territory.  For 
many  years  theories  of  all  sorts  were  current,  attribut- 
ing the  mounds  to  a  race  of  "mound-builders"  who, 
according  to  the  predilections  of  the  different  writers, 
were  supposed  to  have  come  direct  from  Asia,  Mexico, 
or  even  more  remote  places.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  last 
century  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology  undertook 
a  survey  of  the  mounds  in  the  eastern  United  States. 
The  reports  which  resulted  from  this  work  did  much 
to  foster  a  saner  view  of  the  problem  and  to  bring  it 
from  the  realms  of  wild  speculation  to  those  of  science. 
Much  intensive  work  remains  to  be  done  in  Illinois 
before  we  may  hope  to  trace  accurately  the  cultural 
development  of  the  region,  but  from  the  work  so  far 
completed  the  following  general  facts  stand  out. 

While  many  of  the  mounds  are  doubtless  prehis- 
toric, some  of  them,  representing  practically  every  type 
in  the  state,  have  been  proved  by  their  contents  to  be 
post-Columbian.  A  great  amount  of  historical  evidence, 
moreover,  clearly  shows  that  the  Indians  occupying  the 
mound  region  at  the  time  they  were  visited  by  the  first 
explorers,  were  actually  "mound-builders,"  and  raised 
both  towns  and  places  of  worship  on  these  artificial 
eminences.  The  human  remains  found  in  the  mounds 
that  have  been  excavated  to  date,  are  all  of  the  Ameri- 
can Indian  type,  and  represent  only  the  recent  period 
of  geologic  time. 

In  northern  Illinois  none  of  the  mounds  appears  to 
have  been  used  for  temple  or  village  foundations.    Sev- 

3 


4  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

eral  types  occur,  the  most  striking  being  the  effigy 
mounds,  which  seem  to  represent  reptiles,  birds,  or 
mammals  in  shape.  In  Wisconsin,  where  the  type  is 
most  numerous,  they  appear  to  have  been  the  work  of 
the  ancestors  of  the  Winnebago,  and  near-by  peoples 
of  Siouan  stock.  The  accounts  of  these  peoples  speak  of 
the  mounds  as  representing  the  totem  animals  of  their 
clans.  The  Illinois  effigy  mounds  may  have  the  same 
origin.  A  few  large  oval  mounds  occur,  and  there  are 
large  numbers  of  small  round  burial  mounds  as  well. 
Along  some  of  the  low  hills  are  found  walls  two  or  three 
feet  high  and  sometimes  400  yards  long.  Like  the  effigy 
mounds  these  earthworks  rarely  contain  burials.  Their 
use  is  problematical,  and  while  they  are  spoken  of  as 
"fortifications,"  their  strategic  value  is  not  clear.  Stone- 
lined  graves,  or  cists,  are  found  containing  rather  primi- 
tive grave  gifts.  Loskiel  described  actual  burials  among 
the  Delaware  Indians  made  in  this  manner,  and  similar 
graves  known  to  be  Shawnee  occur  in  the  south. 

In  southern  Illinois  many  of  the  mounds,  such  as 
the  Cahokia  group,  appear  to  have  been  eminences  for 
temples  or  habitations.  The  tribes  who  built  this  type 
of  artificial  eminence  are  not  known,  though  the  Chero- 
kee of  northern  Georgia  and  North  Carolina  made  use 
of  similar  mounds  for  village  and  temple  sites  in  early 
historic  times.  It  is  possible  that  peoples  allied  to  the 
Cherokee  at  one  time  occupied  the  river  valleys  to 
the  north  and  were  driven  out  prior  to  the  advent  of  the 
white  man.  In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note 
that  recently  a  type  of  prehistoric  culture  similar  to 
that  of  the  Iroquois  has  been  distinguished  in  southern 
Illinois.  It  is  possible  that  the  latter  people  may  have 
been  partly  responsible  for  the  disappearance  of  the 
older  "mound-builders"  in  southern  Illinois,  as  well  as 
in  Ohio.  Such  in  general  is  the  character  of  the  archae- 
ological   evidence    in    the   region    under    consideration, 


IixiNOis  Before  the  Beginning  of  History  6 

although  it  is  certain  that  more  intensive  archaeological 
work  will  establish  a  clearer  time  sequence  and  settle 
many  of  the  problems  which  exist. 


THE  ILLINOIS 

When  the  PYench  explorers  and  missionaries  first 
came  into  the  region  about  the  southern  end  of  Lake 
Michigan,  it  was  occupied  by  a  tribe,  or  confederation 
of  tribes,  who  called  themselves  Iliniwek  ("men"), 
which  seems,  and  was  apparently  meant  to  be,  deroga- 
tory to  their  neighbors.  The  French  early  changed  this 
name  to  Illinois,  the  name  by  which  the  state  is  known 
at  present.  These  people  belonged  to  the  great  Algon- 
kian  speech  family,  and  at  the  time  of  their  discovery 
formed  a  confederacy  of  the  Cahokia,  Kaskaskia,  Michi- 
gamea,  Moingwena,  Peoria,  and  Tamaroa  tribes.  On 
the  authority  of  General  Harrison  it  has  been  stated 
that  the  Miami  were  a  branch  tribe  of  the  Illinois. 
Bearing  on  this  question,  the  De  Cannes  manuscript  of 
1721  contains  the  following  statements:  "I  was  told 
that  the  languages  of  the  Illinois  and  of  the  Miami 
were  the  same,  and  this  is  true,  there  being  no  differ- 
ence except  that  the  accent  of  the  Illinois  is  very  short 
and  that  of  the  Miami  very  long ....  During  four 
consecutive  years  that  I  remained  with  the  Aouciate- 
nons  at  Chicagoua,  which  is  the  most  considerable  vil- 
lage of  the  Miami,  who  have  been  settled  there  ten  or 
twelve  years,  I  have  found  no  difference  between  their 
manners  and  those  of  the  Illinois,  nor  in  their  language. 
The  only  difference  is  that  they  [the  Miami]  remain 
settled  in  one  place  only  a  very  short  time."  Whatever 
political  bonds  may  have  existed  previously  seem  to 
have  been  severed  before  historic  times;  for,  in  the 
accounts  of  Father  Marquette  and  La  Salle,  the  Miami 
appear  as  a  separate  tribe. 

Father  Hennepin,  about  1680,  estimates  the  Illinois 
population  at  6,500  souls,  living  in  400  houses.  La  Salle, 
in  1684,  states  that  there  were  then  gathered  at  Fort 
St.  Louis  3,680  warriors,  about  one-third  of  whom  were 


2? 

o   2 

^? 
Si 

a  •§ 

H    B 
U    2 


The  Illinois  7 

Illinois.  The  above  estimates  seem  more  exact  and 
reasonable  than  that  given  in  the  Jesuit  Relation  for 
1660,  which  represents  the  Illinois  as  living  southwest  of 
Green  Bay,  in  60  villages,  with  a  population  of  20,000 
men  or  70,000  souls.  The  various  bands  of  the  Illinois 
were  scattered  over  southern  Wisconsin,  northern  Illinois, 
and  along  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi  River  as  far 
south  as  the  Des  Moines  River,  Iowa.  They  were  first 
encountered  by  the  whites  at  La  Pointe,  Wisconsin,  in 
1667,  where  Allouez  met  a  band  of  Illinois  who  had  come 
in  to  trade.  In  1670,  the  same  priest  found  a  number  of 
them  in  a  Mascouten  village  on  the  upper  Fox  River, 
about  nine  miles  from  where  Portage  City  now  stands, 
but  this  band  was  then  planning  to  join  their  tribesmen 
on  the  Mississippi.  It  appears  that  the  various  bands  of 
the  Illinois  wandered  over  quite  a  large  territory  south 
of  the  Great  Lakes  and  were  in  close  contact  with  the 
northern  Lake  tribes  who  later  occupied  the  territory 
when  the  Iroquois  had  driven  the  Illinois  west  of  the 
Mississippi. 

The  Illinois  were  undoubtedly  the  first  historic  inhab- 
itants of  the  region  in  question,  but  owing  to  their 
early  extinction  details  of  their  life  and  society  are  scant. 
The  mode  of  living  of  the  Illinois,  in  their  cultivation  of 
maize  and  use  of  forest  products,  suggests  the  Eastern 
Woodland  culture  area;  but  their  great  dependence  on 
the  buffalo,  which  they  hunted  every  autumn,  resembles 
that  of  the  Great  Plains.  The  region  around  the  southern 
end  of  Lake  Michigan  represents  geographically  an  exten- 
sion of  the  Plains  into  the  Woodland  area,  and  the 
native  culture  which  existed  there  shows  a  close  relation- 
ship to  the  environment. 

In  the  present  account  of  the  Illinois  the  scanty 
historic  references  to  them  have  been  supplemented  by 
the  manuscript  account  of  De  Gannes.    While  there  is 


8  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

some  doubt  as  to  exactly  who  he  was,  and  while  it  is 
possible  that  he  merely  signed  the  account,  but  did  not 
write  it,  the  manuscript  itself  bears  all  evidence  of  authen- 
ticity. It  presents  one  of  the  most  complete  accounts  of 
the  Illinois,  just  after  the  advent  of  the  French,  that  have 
come  down  to  us. 

According  to  Father  Hennepin,  the  cabins  of  the  more 
northerly  Illinois  were  made  like  long  arbors  covered 
with  double  mats  of  reeds,  so  well  sewed  that  neither 
wind  nor  rain  nor  snow  could  penetrate.  According  to 
De  Cannes,  the  reeds  for  these  mats  were  secured  by  the 
women,  who  gathered  them  in  canoes  and  wove  them 
into  mats  oftentimes  60  feet  long.  These  they  called 
apacoya,  a  generic  name  for  coverings  of  all  sorts.  Hen- 
nepin states  that  each  house  had  four  or  five  fires,  and 
accommodated  from  eight  to  ten  families.  The  villages 
were  not  enclosed  by  palisades,  but  according  to  De 
Gannes  were  usually  placed  in  the  open,  where  a  good 
view  of  the  surrounding  country  was  to  be  had. 

Maize  was  planted  in  the  spring  by  the  squaws,  who 
thrust  a  stick  into  the  ground  and  dropped  the  seeds  in 
rows.  Later  in  the  season  the  old  men  and  captives, 
often  from  the  western  tribes,  did  a  little  cultivating 
with  hoes  made  of  the  shoulder-blades  of  deer.  Accord- 
ing to  De  Gannes,  pumpkins  were  also  raised,  cut  into 
disks,  and  dried.  When  the  maize  crop  was  gathered,  it 
was  hidden  in  storage  cellars,  often  under  the  houses.  In 
such  cellars  La  Salle  and  his  voyageurs  found  a  plentiful 
supply  of  food  when  they  encountered  temporarily  deserted 
Illinois  villages  on  the  Mississippi. 

After  the  harvest  the  tribes  would  move  to  the  west 
on  their  annual  buffalo  hunt,  traveling  along  the  river 
valleys.  As  a  rule,  they  did  not  venture  far  out  on  the 
Plains;  for,  prior  to  the  acquisition  of  the  horse,  that  vast, 
scantily  watered  area  was  a  barrier  rather  than  an  aid 
to  travel.  The  account  of  De  Gannes  tells  of  the  Illinois 
securing  water  from  the  paunches  of  the  dead  buffalo 


The  Illinois  9 

while  on  the  Plains.  He  states  that  guards  for  the  buffalo 
hunt  were  appointed  by  the  old  men,  and,  prior  to  the 
first  big  slaughter  of  the  buffalo,  any  person  who  strayed 
away  from  camp  was  punished.  After  the  buffalo  were 
killed,  a  large  frame  called  gris  was  made,  and  the  meat 
placed  on  it  to  be  dried  by  fires  placed  under  the  frame. 
The  women  did  most  of  the  drying,  and  all  the  meat  from 
one  side  of  the  buffalo  would  be  stripped  off  in  as  thin  a 
layer  as  possible.  This  was  folded  like  a  portfolio,  for 
ease  in  transportation.  If  the  buffalo  were  thin  a  strong 
man  could  carry  eight  of  these  for  a  whole  day;  but  in  the 
autumn,  when  the  buffalo  cows  were  fat,  four  such  meat 
parfleches  would  be  a  good  load.  During  the  hunt,  deer, 
bear,  and  young  turkeys  were  killed,  and  feasts  were 
frequently  given.  One  day,  De  Cannes  relates,  out  of 
courtesy  he  was  forced  to  go  to  ten  such  feasts,  for  stran- 
gers who  happened  to  be  with  the  tribe  were  invited. 
He  adds  that  Miami,  Pontonatamis  (Potawatomi),  and 
Cikapowa  (Kickapoo)  were  often  present  at  such  times. 

Besides  these  products  of  the  field  and  the  chase,  the 
Illinois  gathered  many  edible  roots,  blackberries,  and  chest- 
nuts, and  obtained  an  abundance  of  wild  fowl  from  the 
vast  migrating  hordes  of  geese,  ducks,  and  swans.  Fish 
of  many  kinds  were  speared  in  the  lakes  and  rivers. 
After  a  successful  autumn  the  people  would  settle  down 
in  their  winter  quarters,  to  loaf,  play  games,  and  feast 
until  their  supply  of  food  was  exhausted.  A  favorite 
game  of  the  Illinois,  according  to  De  Cannes,  was  lacrosse. 
As  played  by  them,  it  was  a  brutal  sport,  and  many 
people  were  seriously  crippled  by  being  hit  over  the  legs 
with  the  heavy  rackets  or  by  the  solid  wooden  ball.  Village 
played  against  village,  and  large  numbers  took  part. 
During  their  hours  of  leisure,  which  included  most  of  the 
time  save  when  they  were  hunting  or  fighting,  the  men 
gambled,  playing  a  game  in  which  about  200  small 
sticks  were  employed.  The  player  divided  the  sticks, 
and  as  the  count  by  sixes  came  out  odd  or  even,  he  scored 


10  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

or  lost  counters.  Reduced  to  desperate  straits,  the  men 
even  gambled  away  their  female  relatives  in  the  excite- 
ment of  the  game. 

Of  the  clans  and  other  features  of  their  social  organ- 
ization we  know  very  little,  except  that  the  Illinois,  as  a 
whole,  had  the  crane,  bear,  white  deer,  fork,  and  tortoise 
totems.  The  account  of  De  Cannes  adds  the  buffalo, 
cat  (wildcat),  and  lynx  as  "manitous"  of  the  Illinois,  but 
it  is  not  altogether  clear  whether  he  speaks  of  clan  or 
personal  totems. 

The  following  details  of  Illinois  social  organization 
are  all  from  De  Cannes'  account.  All  persons  in  each 
village  called  one  another  by  kinship  terms,  and  the 
men  had  several  wives,  usually  relatives.  The  sisters, 
aunts,  and  nieces  of  a  man's  wife  were  called  nirimoua; 
if  a  man  was  a  successful  hunter,  he  could  marry  all 
women  who  were  thus  related  to  him.  The  term  nirimoua 
was  reciprocal;  that  is,  all  such  women  called  the  man 
also  by  that  term.  Before  he  could  marry,  a  boy  must 
be  over  twenty-five  years  of  age,  and  have  been  on 
several  war  expeditions.  The  marriage  was  arranged  by 
the  man's  parents,  and  presents,  including  slaves,  were 
exchanged.  When  a  man  died,  his  wife  was  forbidden 
to  marry  for  a  year,  during  which  time  she  must  mourn 
her  dead  husband.  Should  she  break  the  taboo,  she  was 
killed,  which  was  also  the  penalty  of  unfaithfulness,  and 
her  scalp  was  raised  on  a  pole  over  the  house  of  the  hus- 
band's family. 

During  periodic  sickness  and  at  childbirth,  women 
lived  in  special  huts,  and  before  a  woman  and  child  could 
return  to  their  home,  it  had  to  be  thoroughly  cleaned, 
and  a  new  fire  lighted.  Berdaches,  that  is,  men  who  lived 
and  dressed  like  women,  were  numerous.  These  men 
imitated  the  ways  of  women  in  all  things. 

There  were  a  large  number  of  medicine-men  or  sha- 
mans, who  attempted  to  cure  ailments  by  sucking  as  well 
as  by  chants  and  ceremonies  which  they  learned  through 


LMlk)tZ4 


PUtelll 


BEADED  GARTERS 
PoUwatomi 


The  Illinois  U 

visions.  Once  a  year  all  the  shamans  had  a  ceremony  at 
which  they  exhibited  their  powers,  supposedly  killing 
and  curing  one  another.  To  impress  the  uninitiated,  they 
danced  with  rattlesnakes  whose  fangs  had  been  removed, 
and  performed  other  acts  of  chicanery.  On  the  other 
hand,  these  shamans  were  often  successful  in  curing 
wounds  by  cleaning  them  out,  washing  them  with  decoc- 
tions of  herbs,  and  bandaging  them.  Sprains  and  broken 
bones  they  likewise  treated  successfully. 

There  were  several  chiefs  in  a  village.  Each  con- 
trolled from  thirty  to  fifty  young  men.  When  it  was 
decided  that  the  tribe  should  go  on  the  war-path,  often  as 
a  result  of  visions  received  by  the  leaders,  the  fetishes  of 
the  chiefs  were  invoked.  These  fetishes  were  in  the  form 
of  reed  mats  in  which  were  placed  feathers  of  various 
birds.  On  the  war-path  the  leader  carried  his  sacred 
tnat,  enclosing  feathers  from  the  fetishes  of  his  followers 
as  well ;  their  success  was  believed  to  depend  on  the  power 
of  this  "medicine."  Usually  small  parties  went  on  raids 
into  enemy  country,  the  young  men  inexperienced  in  war 
tending  to  all  the  wants  of  the  others.  These  young 
warriors  were  not  allowed  to  remove  their  packs  from 
their  backs  until  the  return  trip.  None  of  the  war  party 
was  allowed  to  use  knives  in  eating,  as  they  believed 
that  by  observing  this  taboo  they  would  be  irresistible,  in 
which,  De  Cannes  adds,  they  were  often  mistaken.  When 
the  enemy  was  encountered,  the  warriors  endeavored  to  be 
first  to  touch  a  dead  enemy  or  a  prisoner,  for  only  thus 
could  they  claim  the  victim.  Should  members  of  his 
party  be  killed,  the  leader  was  forced  to  pay  their  f?imilies 
for  them. 

Usually  the  women  and  children  captured  were  spared 
as  slaves,  while  the  men  were  tortured  by  fire.  After  an 
hour  or  so  of  torture  the  body  was  cut  open,  the  heart 
eaten  raw,  and  mothers  hastened  to  dip  the  feet  of  male 
children  in  the  blood  of  the  thoracic  cavity.     Certain 


12  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

individuals  among  the  Illinois  were  known  as  cannibals, 
because  they  always  ate  portions  of  the  slain  captives. 

The  Illinois,  according  to  De  Cannes,  buried  their 
dead  in  shallow  trenches,  with  a  forked  post  at  each  end. 
The  grave  was  lined  with  planks,  usually  from  old  canoes, 
and  the  grave  covered  over  at  top  and  ends  by  stakes. 
Grave  gifts  consisted  of  a  kettle  or  earthen  pot,  bow  and 
arrows  (in  the  case  of  men),  and  a  handful  of  corn  and 
tobacco.  Often  a  calumet  pipe  was  put  in  the  grave.  In 
the  case  of  a  renowned  chief,  De  Cannes  adds,  a  tree 
forty  or  fifty  feet  high  was  stripped  of  its  bark  and  set  up 
by  the  grave.  This  was  painted  red  and  black,  and  a 
portrait  of  the  dead  chief  painted  on  it.  Two  bundles  of 
small  logs  indicating  the  number  of  men  that  the  deceased 
had  slain  and  captured,  were  attached  to  the  tree.  Other 
accounts  of  early  FVench  explorers  speak  of  the  Illinois 
placing  their  dead  in  trees,  and  from  the  types  of  skeletons 
found  in  various  mounds  in  their  country,  it  seems  clear 
that  the  dried  bones  of  such  burials  were  sometimes 
gathered  up  and  buried  in  rude  stone  graves. 

The  Illinois  are  described  as  physically  well  built, 
especially  the  men.  According  to  De  Cannes,  they 
tattooed  the  entire  back,  and  often  the  stomach.  They 
were  friendly  and  talkative,  but  easily  discouraged, 
treacherous,  and  cowardly.  In  war  they  were  excel- 
lent archers,  and  also  used  the  war  club  and  a  kind  of 
lance.  But  the  proud  title  of  "men"  which  they  gave 
themselves  seems  to  have  been  undeserved,  for  in  the 
successive  wars  with  the  Iroquois,  Siouan,  and  north- 
ern Lake  tribes  they  were  almost  invariably  defeated. 
The  events  which  led  to  the  displacement  and  practical 
extinction  of  the  Illinois  will  be  dealt  with  in  the  latter 
part  of  this  leaflet. 

A  small  remnant  of  about  150  Illinois  half-breeds 
were  living  at  the  Quapaw  agency,  Oklahoma,  in  1928. 
All  of  them  have  abandoned  their  own  customs  and  only 
a  few  retain  any  knowledge  of  their  language. 


THE  MIAMI 

The  Illinois  were  driven  from  the  Chicago  region  by 
the  Iroquois,  for  in  1671  Dablon  states  that  they  were 
then  living  across  the  Mississippi,  where  they  had  been 
driven  by  the  former  i)eople.  Their  place  seems  to  have 
been  taken  by  the  Miami,  another  Algonkian  tribe,  who 
appear  to  have  been  formerly  associated  with  the  Illinois, 
as  well  as  the  northern  Lake  tribes.  These  people  were 
first  met  by  the  French  near  Green  Bay,  Wisconsin,  where 
Perrot  visited  them  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Fox  River 
in  1666  and  1670.  In  1671,  part  of  the  tribe  at  least  were 
living  with  the  Mascoutens  in  a  palisaded  village  in  the 
same  locality.  Considering  the  extent  of  territory  occu- 
pied by  the  tribe  a  few  years  later,  it  seems  probable  that 
when  the  Miami  were  first  encountered  by  the  French  in 
Wisconsin,  a  large  portion  of  their  tribe  was  already 
living  in  northeastern  Illinois  and  northern  Indiana. 
Shortly  after  Perrot's  visit  the  Miami  separated  from 
the  Mascoutens  and  their  neighbors,  moving  to  the 
southern  end  of  Lake  Michigan. 

Writing  in  1721,  Father  Charlevoix  says:  "Fifty  years 
ago,  the  Miamis  (Wea  band]  were  settled  on  the  southern 
extremity  of  Lake  Michigan,  in  a  place  called  Chicago, 
from  the  name  of  a  small  river  which  runs  into  the  lake, 
the  source  of  which  is  not  far  distant  from  that  of  the 
river  of  the  Illinois  (the  Des  Plaines].  They  are  at  present 
divided  into  three  villages,  one  of  which  stands  on  the 
River  St.  Joseph,  the  second  on  another  river  [the  Maumee] 
which  bears  their  name  and  runs  into  Lake  Erie,  and  a 
third  upon  the  River  Quabache,  which  empties  its  waters 
into  the  Mississippi.  The  last  are  better  known  by  the 
appellation  of  Quyatanons."  In  1674,  Father  Marquette 
mentions  Chicago  as  a  Wea  (Miami)  village;  but  in  1705, 
when  Vincennes  was  sent  on  a  mission  to  the  Miamis,  he 
found  them  occupying  the  territory  northwest  of  the 

18 


14  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

upper  Wabash 'River.  Attacks  by  the  Sioux  seemed  to 
have  caused  this  movement,  which  was  later  accelerated 
by  the  southern  movement  of  the  Potawatomi  and  Kicka- 
poo  tribes. 

The  Miami  were  a  people  of  medium  stature,  agree- 
able countenance,  and,  according  to  early  French  accounts, 
were  distinguished  for  their  affability.  The  women,  as  a 
rule,  were  dressed  in  buckskin,  but  the  men  wore  few 
clothes,  and  were  tattooed  all  over  the  body.  Like  the 
Illinois,  the  Miami  were  land  travelers  rather  than  canoe- 
men.  Hennepin  describes  their  buffalo  hunts,  in  which 
they  surrounded  the  herd  with  grass  fires,  leaving  only 
a  small  opening  where  the  buffalo  were  shot  as  they 
stampeded  from  the  fire.  Bags  of  buffalo  hair  were 
woven  by  the  women  and  used  as  containers  for  the  dried 
buffalo-meat. 

Perrot  states  that  the  Miami  village  which  he  visited 
was  situated  on  a  hill  and  surrounded  by  a  palisade,  and 
that  the  houses  were  covered  with  rush  mats.  It  has 
been  claimed  that  the  Miami  were  taught  to  build  palisades 
around  their  villages  by  La  Salle.  This  may  be  true,  but 
it  is  not  necessary  as  an  explanation,  for  palisaded  villages 
occurred  both  to  the  north  and  east  of  the  Miami.  Early 
explorers  state  that  they  worshipped  the  sun  and  the 
thunder;  but  it  is  highly  probable  that  they  worshipped 
various  manitou,  as  the  Algonkian  people  termed  the 
many  forces  of  nature,  which  they  believed  inhabited  both 
animate  and  inanimate  objects.  Among  the  Miami  who 
lived  about  Fort  Wayne  three  forms  of  burial  have  been 
noted:  ordinary  ground  burial  in  a  shallow  grave;  surface 
burial  in  a  hollow  log,  often  one  especially  hollowed  out; 
and  surface  burial  in  which  the  body  is  covered  with  a 
small  pen  of  logs  which  meet  at  the  top. 

According  to  Lewis  H.  Morgan,  the  Miami  had  10 
clans;  but  Chauvignerie,  in  1737,  states  that  they  have 
two  principal  totems,  the  elk  and  crane,  while  some  have 
the  bear.    Other  authorities  mention  the  crane  and  turtle 


LMflet24 


Plate  IV 


POTAWATOMI  YARN  BAGS 

Upper  left,  (or  ceremonial  artidea,  decorated  with  homed  water-panther  deaign 

Upper  right  for  ceremonial  artidea 

The  one  below  waa  uaed  for  peraonal  poaaeaaiona 


The  Miami  15 

totems.  As  none  of  these  totems  are  recorded  in  Morgan's 
list,  the  exact  situation  is  not  clear.  Estimates  in  regard 
to  the  former  numbers  of  the  tribe  are  likewise  only 
tentative;  De  Cannes,  in  1687,  states  that  they  were  as 
numerous  as  the  Illinois,  and  at  that  time  occupied  six 
villages.  An  estimate  made  in  1764  gives  them  a  popu- 
lation of  1,500.  Though  the  Miami  were  forced  to  leave 
the  Chicago  region,  nevertheless  they  appear  to  have 
been  a  strong  people  and  brave  in  battle.  For,  as  Beck- 
with  points  out,  they  caused  even  the  Iroquois  to  seek 
aid  from  the  American  colonies,  and  they  fought  the 
French,  English,  and  Americans  in  turn  as  their  policy 
demanded. 

In  1928,  a  small  group  of  60  Miami  half-breeds  were 
living  at  the  Quapaw  agency,  Oklahoma,  and  about  200 
of  them  near  Peru,  Indiana.  Both  of  these  groups  have 
abandoned  their  ancient  customs  and  traditions. 


THE  POTAWATOMI 

The  tribe  that  held  the  Chicago  region  from  about 
the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  until  1833  was  the 
Potawatomi.  They  are  discussed  here  at  some  length, 
as  they  played  an  important  role  throughout  the  early 
American  period,  and  we  are  fortunate  in  possessing  quite 
detailed  accounts  of  their  mode  of  life.  According  to  a 
tradition  possessed  by  all  three  tribes,  the  Potawatomi, 
Chippewa,  and  Ottawa  were  once  one  people,  and  appear 
in  history  more  or  less  simultaneously  in  the  territory 
about  the  upper  end  of  Lake  Huron. 

The  name  Potawatomi  means  "People  of  the  Place 
of  Fire,"  as  did  the  Huron  name  Asistagueroiion,  which 
Champlain  used  in  referring  to  the  western  enemies  of 
the  Huron.  The  term  "Fire  Nation"  was  at  first  used 
rather  generally  in  referring  to  the  Potawatomi,  Sauk, 
Fox,  and  other  tribes  whose  territories  in  early  times  met 
near  Green  Bay,  Wisconsin.  Later,  one  band  of  the 
Potawatomi,  those  dwelling  to  the  south  on  the  prairie, 
became  known  as  the  Mascoutens,  or  "Little  Prairie- 
people,"  while  the  other  division  living  in  northern  Wis- 
consin became  known  as  the  Forest  Potawatomi.  There 
seems  to  have  been  another  Algonkian  tribe  in  the  same 
region  which  was  also  known  as  the  Mascoutens,  that 
later  merged  with  the  Sauk;  hence  the  unrestricted  use 
of  such  terms  as  "Fire  People"  or  "Mascoutens"  by 
early  priests  and  explorers  often  leaves  some  doubt  as  to 
the  exact  people  referred  to.  However,  as  Skinner  points 
out,  the  term  "Mascouten"  generally  implies  a  branch  of 
the  Potawatomi.  Many  early  accounts  mention  the 
Potawatomi,  and  the  impression  one  receives  from  these 
varies  with  the  personal  experiences  of  the  writers.  As 
a  general  rule  the  French  accounts  are  favorable,  and  the 
English  accounts  are  not;  for  the  friendship  between  the 
pioneers  of  France  and  the  Potawatomi  was  early  formed 

16 


The  PoTAWATOMi  17 

and  lasting.  In  1666,  Father  Allouez  describes  the  Pota- 
watomi  as  "a  people  whose  country  is  about  the  lake  of 
Ill-i-mouek,  a  great  lake  that  has  not  come  to  our  knowl- 
edge, adjoining  the  lake  of  the  Hurons  and  that  of  the 
Puants  (Winnebago  at  Green  Bay)  between  the  east  and 
the  south.  They  are  a  warlike  people,  hunters  and  fishers. 
Their  country  is  good  for  Indian  com  of  which  they  plant 
fields,  and  to  which  they  repair  to  avoid  the  famines  that 
are  too  frequent  in  these  quarters.  They  are  in  the 
highest  degree  idolaters,  attached  to  ridiculous  fables  and 
devoted  to  polygamy  ....  Of  all  the  people  that  I  have 
associated  with  in  these  countries,  they  are  the  most 
docile  and  affectionate  toward  the  French.  Their  wives 
and  daughters  are  more  reserved  than  those  of  other 
nations.  They  have  a  kind  of  civility  among  them,  and 
make  it  quite  apparent  to  strangers,  which  is  rare  among 
our  barbarians." 

In  1718,  an  official  "Memoir  on  the  Indians  between 
Lake  Erie  and  the  Mississippi,"  gives  the  following 
account  of  the  Potawatomi  village  near  Detroit: 

"The  port  of  Detroit  is  south  west  of  the  river.  The 
village  of  the  Potawatomies  adjoins  the  fort;  they  lodge 
partly  under  apaquois  [an  Ojibwa  term  for  reed  mats] 
which  are  made  of  mat  grass. 

"The  women  do  all  the  work.  The  men  belonging  to 
the  nation  are  well  clothed,  like  our  domiciliated  Indians 
at  Montreal.  Their  entire  occupation  is  hunting  and 
dress.  They  make  use  of  a  great  deal  of  vermilion  and  in 
winter  wear  buffalo  robes  richly  painted,  and  in  summer 
either  red  or  blue  cloth.  They  play  a  good  deal  at  La 
Crosse  in  summer,  twenty  or  more  on  a  side.  Their  bat 
is  a  sort  of  a  little  racket,  and  the  ball  with  which  they 
play  is  made  of  very  heavy  wood,  somewhat  larger  than 
the  balls  used  at  tennis.  They  are  entirely  naked  except 
breech  cloth  and  moccasins  on  their  feet.  Their  bodies 
are  completely  painted  with  all  sorts  of  colors.  Some, 
with  white  clay,  trace  white  lace  on  their  bodies,  as  if  on 


18  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

all  the  seams  of  a  coat,  and  at  a  distance,  it  would  be  taken 
for  silver  lace.  They  play  very  deep  and  often  the  bets 
sometimes  amounting  to  more  than  eight  hundred  livres. 
They  set  up  two  poles,  and  commence  the  game  from  the 
centre;  one  party  propels  the  ball  from  one  side,  and  the 
others  from  the  opposite,  and  whichever  reaches  the  goal 
wins.  It  is  a  fine  recreation  well  worth  seeing.  They 
often  play  village  against  village,  the  Poux  ["Lice,"  a 
nickname  for  the  Potawatomi]  against  the  Ottawas,  or 
Hurons,  and  at  heavy  stakes.  Sometimes  the  French 
join  in  the  game  with  them. 

"The  women  cultivate  Indian-corn,  beans,  squashes 
and  melons,  which  come  up  very  fine.  The  women  and 
girls  dance  at  night.  They  adorn  themselves  considerably; 
grease  their  hair,  paint  their  faces  with  vermilion,  put  on 
a  white  chemise,  wear  whatever  wampum  they  possess, 
and  are  very  tidy  in  their  way.  They  dance  to  the  sound 
of  the  drum  and  si-si-quoi  [pronounced  shi-shi-gwan] 
which  is  a  sort  of  gourd  containing  some  grains  of  shot. 
Four  or  five  young  men  sing  and  beat  time  with  the  drum 
and  rattle,  and  the  women  keep  time,  and  do  not  lose  a 
step.  It  is  very  interesting,  and  lasts  almost  the  entire 
night. 

"The  old  men  dance  the  medicine  [dance].  They 
resemble  a  set  of  demons;  and  all  this  takes  place  during 
the  night.  The  young  men  often  dance  in  a  circle  and 
strike  posts.  It  is  then  they  recount  their  achievements, 
and  dance,  at  the  same  time,  the  war  dance;  and  when- 
ever they  act  thus  they  are  highly  ornamented.  It  is 
altogether  very  curious.  They  often  perform  these  things 
for  tobacco.  When  they  go  hunting,  which  is  every  fall, 
they  carry  their  apaquois  with  them,  to  hut  under  at 
night.  Everybody  follows — men,  women  and  children. 
They  winter  in  the  forest  and  return  in  the  spring." 

Very  different  in  tone  are  the  various  early  accounts 
of  the  Potawatomi  given  by  the  English  explorers  and 
traders.    John  Long  ("Voyages  and  Travels  in  the  Years 


The  Potawatomi  19 

1768-88")  characterizes  the  Poes  (Potawatomi)  as  "a 
very  wild,  savage  people,  who  have  an  aversion  to  English- 
men and  generally  give  them  as  much  trouble  as  possible 
in  passing  or  repassing  the  Fort  of  St.  Joseph's,  where 
some  French  traders  are  settled  by  their  permission." 
Somewhat  similar  are  the  complaints  of  Sir  William 
Johnston  in  1772,  in  regard  to  murders  and  robberies 
committed  by  the  Potawatomi,  instigated  by  the  jealousy 
of  French  traders.  The  Potawatomi  were  evidently  good 
friends  and  bad  enemies,  and  seem  to  have  long  main- 
tained their  individuality  and  pride  even  under  adverse 
circumstances.  Writing  in  1838,  in  regard  to  the  Pota- 
watomi who  had  been  removed  to  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa, 
Father  De  Smet  says:  "We  arrived  among  the  Pota- 
watomis  on  the  afternoon  of  the  31st  of  May.  Nearly 
2,000  savages  in  their  finest  rigs  and  carefully  painted  in 
all  sorts  of  patterns,  were  awaiting  the  boat  at  the  landing. 
I  had  not  seen  so  imposing  a  sight  nor  such  fine-looking 
Indians  in  America:  the  lowas,  the  Sauks,  and  the  Otoes 
are  beggars  compared  to  these."  Simon  Kahquados,  a 
recent  chief  of  the  Potawatomi  in  Wisconsin,  whose  por- 
trait is  given  here  (Plate  I),  illustrates  Father  De  Smet's 
description  of  the  imposing  appearance  of  the  Potawatomi. 

Recent  studies  of  the  Prairie  Potawatomi  have  been 
made,  and  more  is  known  of  their  daily  and  ceremonial 
life  than  is  the  case  with  the  Illinois  or  Miami.  The 
Potawatomi  have  for  a  long  time  been  separated  into  two 
divisions:  the  Forest  and  Prairie  groups.  The  former 
group  appears  to  have  kept  most  of  the  old  culture  traits 
characteristic  of  the  Algonkian  peoples  in  general,  while 
the  Prairie  bands  have  been  influenced  first  by  the  Miami 
and  Illinois  tribes,  and  later  by  the  Sauk  and  Fox,  so  that 
their  customs  which  prevailed  some  50  years  ago  seem 
somewhat  mixed.  There  were  about  10  bands  of  the 
Prairie  Potawatomi,  the  largest  of  which  called  them- 
selves "Muskodens,"  and  formerly  dwelt  about  the 
southern  end  of  Lake  Michigan  with  their  main  town  at 


20  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

the  site  of  modern  Chicago.  Prairie  Potawatomi  society 
was  composed  of  some  23  clans,  which  reckoned  descent 
in  the  father's  line.  They  were  named  after  natural 
phenomena  such  as  the  raven,  bear,  buffalo,  man,  etc., 
and  these  were  grouped  according  to  type  of  name;  for 
example,  the  sea  and  fish  clans  would  belong  to  the 
water  division  or  phratry.  In  addition  to  these  groupings 
there  were  two  large  divisions  of  society  characterized 
by  the  use  of  black  or  white  paint,  the  oldest  child  always 
joining  the  former  division,  the  second  child  the  other, 
and  so  on  in  succession.  A  similar  division  of  all  the 
tribe  between  the  upper  and  lower  worlds,  according  to 
whether  the  clan  totem  was  a  bird  or  a  mammal,  also 
existed. 

Each  clan  had  a  sacred  bundle  containing  various 
objects  believed  to  be  sacred.  It  was  the  possession  of 
such  bundles  that  gave  power  and  success  to  the  clans 
in  their  activities,  according  to  the  belief  of  the  Indians. 
Many  of  the  bundles  were  supposedly  given  the  clans  by 
the  great  culture-hero  Wi'saka,  but  others  were  acquired 
or  made  as  the  result  of  dreams,  or  visions  of  the  people 
who  originated  the  clan.  Thus  each  bundle  came  to  have 
a  special  legend  attached  to  it,  accounting  for  its  origin. 

The  chieftainship  of  the  Prairie  Potawatomi  was 
usually  hereditary  in  the  fish  clan,  and  the  chief  was 
largely  a  civil  and  military  authority.  He  appointed 
each  year  a  ceremonial  chief  who  conducted  all  the 
ceremonies  and  activities  of  the  people.  Should  a  man 
commit  murder,  the  tribal  chief  would  send  for  the 
keeper  of  the  tribal  peace-pipe  (Plate  VIII),  and  a  council 
would  be  held  to  discuss  the  case.  If  the  chief  thought 
the  man  guilty,  he  would  smoke  the  pipe,  and  the  murderer 
would  be  executed.  If  the  man  appeared  not  to  be  guilty, 
the  pipe  bearer  with  flint  and  steel  would  attempt  to 
light  his  pipe;  if  he  succeeded  in  four  strokes  of  the  steel, 
the  man  went  free;  but  if  he  failed,  the  man  was  executed. 
It  was  possible  for  an  influential  man  to  escape  the  con- 


The  Potawatomi  21 

sequences  of  three  murders;  but  if  he  should  kill  four 
people,  nothing  could  save  him. 

Special  names  in  honor  of  their  exploits  were  given 
to  warriors  who  were  brave  in  battle,  and  war  honors 
were  awarded  to  the  first  four  men  who  touched  a  dead 
foe,  in  order  of  precedence.  This  was  a  much  more  note- 
worthy feat  in  the  eyes  of  the  Potawatomi  than  merely 
killing  an  enemy.  A  single  tuft  of  hair  from  the  crown 
of  the  head  was  taken  as  a  scalp;  prisoners  were  often 
tortured  and  scalped  by  the  boys  and  young  men.  Before 
war  parties  the  aid  of  the  clan  bundles  was  invoked,  and 
special  war  bundles  were  carried  by  the  leaders  on  cam- 
paigns, in  front  of  them  on  the  out  trip  and  behind  them 
on  the  return,  so  that  the  bundle  would  always  be  between 
them  and  the  enemy. 

Young  children  were  given  names  at  a  ceremony  for 
the  clan  bundles,  and  these  names  usually  referred  to  the 
name  of  their  clan.  In  former  times  when  children  reached 
the  age  of  about  ten  years,  the  parents  would  urge  them 
to  fast  all  day  and  seek  a  vision.  By  the  time  children 
were  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  of  age,  they  were  made  to 
go  from  f^ur  to  eight  days  without  eating  or  drinking. 
All  this  w^  to  enable  the  children  to  have  a  vision  which 
would  give  them  a  guardian  spirit  through  life,  and  would 
bring  them  success.  Only  when  he  had  obtained  such  a 
dream  was  a  boy  considered  to  be  a  man. 

Marriages  were  usually  arranged  between  the  parents 
of  a  boy  and  girl,  but  the  boy's  and  girl's  consent  was 
usually  obtained.  If  all  parties  agreed,  then  the  boy 
came  to  his  bride's  lodge  that  night,  and  the  marriage 
was  concluded.  Sometimes  a  youth  would  pick  out  the 
girl  he  wanted  for  himself  and  tell  her  his  desire.  If  she 
was  agreeable,  she  had  her  family  invite  all  his  relatives 
to  a  feast.  Then,  well  mounted,  the  groom  rode  to  the 
bride's  house  and  dismounted,  going  into  the  wigwam 
where  the  girl  sat  beside  the  rawhide  trunks  that  held  all 
her  possessions.    Standing  there,  the  boy  took  off  all  his 


22  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

clothes  and  presented  them  to  her;  and  she,  opening  her 
trunks,  gave  him  an  entire  new  outfit  of  clothing  which 
he  donned  immediately.  Then  the  feast  began,  the  two 
families  exchanging  food.  At  the  close  of  the  feast  an 
old  man  lectured  the  young  couple  on  their  mutual  duties, 
and  other  relatives  of  both  of  them  followed,  in  turn. 
The  horse  was  brought  out,  and  the  girl  rode  over  to  the 
boy's  lodge;  here  his  relatives  dressed  her  in  new  clothes, 
and  she  returned,  bringing  all  the  groom's  possessions. 
Thus  the  marriage  was  concluded. 

The  houses  of  the  Potawatomi  were  similar  to  those 
of  their  neighbors;  the  round  birch  bark  and  mat  house 
was  used  in  winter,  and  the  larger,  rectangular,  mat- 
covered  house  in  summer.  Occasionally  buffalo-hide  tipis 
were  used.  When  a  new  lodge  was  made  in  the  autumn, 
a  feast  of  dog  meat,  elaborately  prepared,  was  eaten,  and 
offerings  of  tobacco  and  cedar  smoke  were  made  before 
the  house  could  be  occupied.  In  such  rites  the  chief's 
wife  was  always  first,  and  the  others  followed.  A  similar 
ceremony  occurred  in  the  spring,  when  they  moved  into 
the  square  mat-houses. 

The  leaders  of  the  annual  buffalo  hunt  were  chosen 
from  among  the  principal  men  of  the  buffalo  clan,  and 
usually  the  keeper  of  the  clan  bundle  was  chosen.  A 
feast  was  then  held,  and  imitative  ceremonies  supposed 
to  attract  the  buffalo  were  held.  At  the  close  of  the 
feast,  representatives  of  the  two  tribal  divisions  (moieties) 
held  an  eating  race;  the  winners  in  consuming  the  hot 
food  were  appointed  to  carry  the  sacred  buffalo  clan 
bundle  on  the  hunt.  Sixteen  braves  were  appointed  by 
the  leader  as  guards  or  police,  and  these  carried  elkhorn- 
handled  whips  with  which  they  enforced  the  rules  of  the 
hunt.  As  they  travelled  west  toward  the  buffalo  ranges, 
no  hunting  was  allowed,  for  it  might  frighten  the  herds. 

When  buffalo  were  sighted,  the  hunters  were  divided 
into  two  groups  to  surround  the  herd  if  possible,  and 
the  hunt  was  carried  on  under  the  control  of  the  16  police. 


Leaflet  24 


PUtcV 


POTAWATOMI  UAirS  COOTUICS 


The  Potawatomi  28 

When  the  first  hunt  terminated,  each  person  brought  a 
piece  of  meat  to  the  leader  as  an  oflFering,  and  a  ceremonial 
feast  was  held.  After  this  the  hunt  was  resumed,  but  all 
were  now  allowed  to  hunt  separately  and  as  they  pleased. 
When  the  hunt  was  over  a  feast  was  held,  dried  meat, 
robes,  and  tallow  were  packed,  and  the  people  started  for 
home.  On  the  return  trip  the  four  men  beaten  in  the 
eating  contest  carried  the  buffalo  clan  bundle.  At  night 
the  hunters  fired  the  prairie,  so  that  those  remaining  at 
home  might  see  the  smoke  and  prepare  the  camp  for  their 
reception.  When  they  reached  camp,  all  repaired  to  their 
own  houses;  the  next  day  a  feast  was  held  by  the  buffalo 
clan  to  name  all  children  bom  while  the  hunt  was  on. 
After  this  ceremony  was  over,  all  the  other  clans  had 
naming  ceremonies  and  feasts.  Then  followed  a  time  of 
games  and  feasting. 

The  Potawatomi  likewise  sent  out  quite  large  parties 
to  secure  deer,  and  black  bears  were  hunted  in  winter 
when  they  were  sleeping  in  caves.  Beaver,  otter,  mink, 
and  muskrat  were  trapped  and  snared  for  fur  and  for 
food.  Gill  nets  of  bark  or  fiber  twine  were  made  and  set 
in  lakes  and  streams;  in  the  winter  time  fish  were  speared 
through  the  ice,  or  were  caught  in  seines.  In  spring, 
quantities  of  ducks  and  geese  were  killed  and  preserved 
in  brine.  In  addition  to  all  these  products  of  the  chase, 
they  cultivated  maize,  squash,  beans,  and  tobacco,  while 
the  forests  and  lakes  furnished  quantities  of  berries  and 
wild  rice.  As  the  account  of  AUouez  indicates,  famines 
occurred  when  one  or  more  staples  failed  them,  but 
ordinarily  the  people  of  the  Great  Lakes  must  have  had 
a  large  and  varied  food  supply. 

The  Potawatomi  of  the  lakes  had  both  birch  bark 
canoes  and  dugouts,  which  are  typical  of  the  Lake  tribes; 
but  the  Prairie  Potawatomi  while  on  the  Plains  used  the 
bull-boat,  a  raw  buffalo  hide  stretched  over  a  wooden 
frame,  to  transport  their  goods  across  rivers.  Similarly, 
after  the  introduction  of  the  horse,  they  used  the  travois, 


24  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

two  poles  dragged  on  each  side  of  a  horse,  with  their 
possessions  lashed  on  behind.  The  war  club,  the  lance, 
the  bow  and  arrow,  and  the  knife  constituted  the  weapons 
of  the  Potawatomi.  Like  the  travois  and  the  bull-boat, 
the  Prairie  Potawatomi  made  use  of  a  round  shield  of 
buffalo  hide.  These  three  things  are  more  typical  of  the 
Plains  tribes  than  of  the  Eastern  Woodland  peoples  to 
whom  in  most  other  characteristics  the  Potawatomi 
belonged. 

The  art  of  the  Potawatomi  as  manifested  in  porcupine 
quill  and  bead  work  seems  more  characteristic  of  the 
Central  Algonkians  than  the  Plains  tribes.  This  design 
work  appears  most  commonly  on  their  medicine  bags, 
clothing,  and  mats  (Plates  III-VII),  and  is  characterized 
by  either  flamboyant  scroll  work  or  by  isolated  graceful 
designs.  Diamond-shaped  central  figures,  with  leaf  or 
scroll  corner  designs,  rectangular  diamond  shapes  with 
different  colors  in  them,  and  spider-web  designs  are  all 
typical  Potawatomi  motifs,  according  to  Mr.  M.  G. 
Chandler,  who  is  well  acquainted  with  their  art. 

The  clothing  of  the  Potawatomi  which  is  still  obtainable 
largely  represents  colonial  styles  of  the  early  settlers, 
readapted  by  the  Indians  (Plates  I,  V,  VI).  The  decorative 
designs  on  this  clothing  are  largely  native,  whether  in 
bead  or  ribbon  appliqu^  work,  but  the  material,  and  in 
some  cases  the  cut,  is  derived  from  the  whites.  The  col- 
lection of  Potawatomi  clothing  and  decorative  bead  and 
quill  work  gathered  for  the  Museum  by  Mr.  Chandler,  and 
now  on  exhibition,  clearly  demonstrates  the  above  points. 

The  religion  of  the  Potawatomi,  like  that  of  most  of 
the  Central  Algonkian  people,  is  hard  to  reduce  to  a 
formula,  largely  because  it  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
formally  conceptualized  in  the  minds  of  the  Indians. 
Schoolcraft  states  that  the  Potawatomi  believed  in  a 
good  spirit  and  a  bad  spirit  who  governed  the  world 
between  them,  but  this  is  a  reflection  of  the  Christian 
doctrine.    They  did,  however,  conceive  of  a  "Great  Spirit" 


The  Potawatomi  26 

which  originally  may  have  been  the  sun;  and  besides  this 
vaguely  personified  deity,  their  pantheon  contained  the 
archaic  deities  of  fire,  sun,  and  the  sea,  as  well  as  gods  of 
the  four  directions.  The  evil  p)ower  in  the  water  was  the 
great  horned  water-panther  (Plate  IV,  upper  left),  who 
was  at  constant  war  with  the  Thunderbirds.  The  wor- 
ship of  the  manitou,  or  power  believed  to  be  in  other 
natural  objects  such  as  plants  or  animals,  was  also  a  vital 
part  of  their  religious  belief.  They  believed  that  the 
human  body  had  but  one  soul  or  spirit,  and  that  this 
spirit  eventually  followed  a  trail  over  the  Milky  Way 
into  the  western  heavens  to  a  land  ruled  over  by  Tcibia'bos, 
the  brother  of  Wi'saka,  the  great  culture  hero.  The  power 
of  the  various  manitou  or  spirits  was  often  visualized  by 
the  sacred  clan  bundles,  and  around  these  most  of  their 
ceremonials  radiated.  At  such  feasts  specially  reared 
dogs  were  eaten,  and  no  ceremonial  was  complete  with- 
out dog  meat.  Dogs  used  for  this  purpose  were  carefully 
raised,  kept  from  the  polluting  association  of  other 
dogs,  and  only  killed  after  many  formalities  had  been 
observed. 

Besides  the  clan  bundle  ceremonials  there  are  those 
of  the  medicine  lodge,  which  may  be  joined  by  men  and 
women.  The  purposes  of  the  society  are  to  prolong  life 
and  cure  sickness,  and  in  their  keeping  are  various  sacred 
myths  of  the  Potawatomi.  In  the  medicine  lodge  cere- 
monies decorated  animal  skins  are  carried  (Plate  VII). 
The  ritual  and  initiation  ceremonies  are  complex  and 
known  only  to  the  initiated.  There  are  various  other 
societies,  such  as  the  Waubano  society  or  cult,  composed 
of  those  men  who  in  their  visions  saw  phenomena  con- 
nected with  the  dawn.  The  drum  of  a  member  of  the 
Waubano  society  which  depicts  his  vision  is  shown  in 
Plate  VIII.  Other  cults  existed  based  on  other  dream 
experiences,  such  as  the  Dream  or  Religion  dance,  of 
rather  late  origin,  and  in  addition  to  these  are  the 
Warrior's,  Begging,  and  purely  social  dances. 


26  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

The  Potawatomi  claim  to  have  received  from  the 
Comanche  the  series  of  ceremonies  called  the  Peyote  cult. 
These  ceremonies  center  around  a  small  cactus  which 
grows  in  Mexico  and  the  southwestern  United  States, 
that  produces  a  sort  of  spiritual  exaltation  when  eaten. 
The  spread  of  the  Peyote  cult  in  historic  times  has  been 
remarkable,  and  today  it  is  one  of  the  strongest  cults 
existing  among  the  Indians  of  the  United  States  and 
Mexico. 

For  three  nights  after  a  death  the  clan  members  of 
the  deceased  sing,  pray,  and  go  through  ceremonies  to 
propitiate  and  scare  away  the  ghost.  A  coffin  is  then 
made  from  a  hollow  tree,  members  of  another  dan  dig 
the  grave,  and  the  body  is  buried  in  the  cemetery  of  the 
clan  to  which  the  person  formerly  belonged.  It  is  inter- 
esting to  note  that  dead  members  of  the  man,  or  human 
clan,  were  interred  sitting  up  against  a  back  rest,  with  a 
framework  of  logs  around  them.  With  the  dead  are  placed 
a  few  weapons  or  utensils,  and  formerly  a  favorite  horse 
was  sacrificed  at  the  man's  grave  to  serve  his  master  in 
the  journey  to  the  other  world.  Various  mounds  have 
been  found  in  the  vicinity  of  Potawatomi  burials,  but 
there  seems  to  be  no  correlation  between  any  type  of 
mound  and  the  burials  of  the  tribe. 

The  Potawatomi  Indians  still  retain  some  of  their 
old  religious  beliefs  and  customs,  and  are  rated  as  more 
conservative  than  any  of  the  other  existing  Chicago-land 
tribes. 

At  the  present  time  they  are  scattered  over  several 
states.    The  following  groups  were  observed  in  1930: 

Pokagon's  Band,  near  Hartford,  Michigan;  60  to  75 
individuals;  mixed  bloods. 

Citizen  Potawatomi,  central  Oklahoma;  about  1,500 
mixed  bloods;  now  farmers  and  stock  raisers. 

Kansas  Potawatomi,  eastern  Kansas;  about  600  mixed 
bloods;  mostly  farmers;  some  borrowing  of  Plains  Indian 
customs. 


LMiflet24 


PUte  VI 


POTAWATOMI  WOMAN'S  COSTUME 


I 


The  PoTAWATOMi  27 

Wisconsin  Potawatomi,  northeastern  Wisconsin;  prob- 
ably 500  or  600,  none  of  whom  appear  to  be  of  pure 
Indian  blood.  Because  this  region  is  wild  and  unsuited 
to  farming,  these  Potawatomi  have  adhered  to  their 
language  and  to  many  of  their  old  customs  and  beliefs. 
Hunting,  fishing,  gathering  wild  rice  and  other  native 
foods  are  still  carried  on.  The  medicine  lodge  is  still 
in  existence  and  many  of  the  old  ceremonies  are  flourishing. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  TRIBES 

Such  were  the  three  tribes  that  we  know  once  occupied 
the  territory  where  the  city  of  Chicago  now  stands,  but 
in  order  to  understand  their  coming  and  going,  the  history 
of  this  part  of  the  Great  Lakes  region  must  be  briefly 
considered. 

When  the  accounts  of  the  great  French  explorers  and 
priests  such  as  Champlain,  La  Salle,  and  Marquette  first 
describe  the  state  of  the  tribes,  we  find  the  Iroquois  Con- 
federacy, located  in  what  is  now  the  State  of  New  York, 
to  be  the  dominant  military  power.  Archaeologists  are 
inclined  to  believe  that  the  Iroquois  came  to  New  York 
from  the  south,  driving  out  the  Algonkians,  who  once 
occupied  the  territory,  and  causing  them  to  settle  around 
the  Great  Lakes.  The  French  found  a  branch  of  the 
Iroquois  north  of  Lake  Erie,  whom  they  called  the  Neu- 
trals. In  1606  Champlain  found  them  allied  with  the 
Ottawa  in  fighting  the  Mascoutens  to  the  west.  In  1643 
the  Neutrals  sent  an  expedition  of  some  two  thousand 
men  against  the  "Nation  du  Feu,"  which  attacked  and 
destroyed  a  palisaded  village  and  most  of  its  inhabitants. 
The  latter  people  may  have  been  representatives  of  the 
Potawatomi,  Mascoutens,  Miami,  or  even  some  Illinois 
tribes.  In  1648-49  the  Huron  tribes  were  destroyed 
by  the  Iroquois,  and  a  few  years  later  the  Neutrals  were 
likewise  conquered  by  them,  the  remnant  of  the  tribe 
being  assimilated  by  the  Seneca  branch  of  the  Iroquois. 
Thus  as  early  as  history  records  we  find  the  Great  Lakes 
region  to  be  the  scene  of  war  and  conquest.  At  that 
time  the  Chicago  region  was  apparently  occupied  by  tribes 
of  the  Illinois,  and  only  the  archaeological  record  can  tell 
us  who  preceded  them. 

In  1634,  Jean  Nicollet  met  the  Menominee,  Winnebago, 
and  probably  the  Potawatomi  at  Green  Bay,  Wisconsin. 
Another  western  war  was  then  in  progress  between  the 

•    28 


History  of  the  Tribes  29 

former  people  and  their  allies,  the  Sioux,  against  the 
Chippewa.  The  Lake  tribes  very  eariy  allied  themselves 
with  the  French,  who  were  the  enemies  of  the  Iroquois. 
In  1641,  Verwyst  states,  the  Potawatomi  were  living  near 
the  Winnebago.  The  Jesuit  Relation  of  1642  mentions 
them  near  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  where  they  had  fled  to  escape 
a  hostile  nation  which  was  continually  harassing  them. 
There  seems  some  reason  to  believe  that  the  Potawatomi 
and  the  Sauk  formerly  lived  in  Michigan,  and  had  been 
driven  across  the  Straits  of  Mackinac  by  the  Neutrals, 
who  seem  to  be  the  nation  referred  to  in  the  Relation. 
In  1667,  Father  Allouez  met  300  warriors  of  the  Potawa- 
tomi at  Chaquamogon  Bay.  In  1670,  a  portion  of  them 
were  living  on  the  islands  in  the  mouth  of  Green  Bay. 
From  the  accounts  of  these  early  French  missionaries,  the 
Menominee,  Sauk,  Potawatomi,  Miami,  Winnebago,  and 
Mascoutens  seem  to  have  taken  refuge  in  various  villages 
around  Green  Bay,  having  been  driven  there  from  the 
southeast.  Tribal  boundaries  do  not  seem  at  all  clearly 
defined,  and  earlier  wars  appear  to  have  disrupted  all  the 
tribes  of  the  region.  Only  the  Winnebago  are  referred 
to  by  Father  Dablon  as  original  owners  of  the  territory. 
The  collective  term  "Nation  du  Feu,"  then,  appears  to 
refer  not  to  one  specific  tribe,  but  to  all  those  peoples 
that  in  the  seventeenth  century  were  congregated  in  the 
vicinity  of  Sault  Ste.  Marie  and  Green  Bay. 

During  the  years  1671  and  1672,  the  expatriated 
Hurons  united  many  of  the  Ottawa,  Sauk,  Fox,  and 
Potawatomi  in  a  raid  against  the  Sioux  with  whom  they 
were  then  at  peace,  but  the  allies  were  severely  defeated. 
At  that  time  some  of  the  Miami  were  living  with  the 
Mascoutens  near  Green  Bay,  but  shortly  afterward  they 
moved  south  to  where  in  all  probability  the  remainder  of 
the  Miami  were  living  around  the  southern  end  of  Lake 
Michigan.  There  seem  to  be  no  records  of  the  displace- 
ment of  the  Illinois  proper  by  the  Miami,  but  Charlevoix 
mentions  a  Miami  village  on  the  site  of  Chicago  in  about 


80  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

1671.  Harassed  by  their  Iroquois  neighbors,  the  Illinois 
tribes  seem  to  have  congregated  on  the  Illinois  River,  near 
Fort  St.  Louis,  where  they  are  mentioned  by  La  Salle  in 
1684.  Meanwhile  the  Fox,  as  well  as  the  Potawatomi, 
were  moving  south  along  the  west  shore  of  Lake  Michigan. 
The  former,  allied  with  the  Sauk,  came  into  violent  con- 
tact with  the  French,  and  were  finally  crushed  by  Sieur 
De  Villiers  at  Little  Butte  des  Morts  in  1728. 

The  Potawatomi,  however,  continued  their  southward 
movement.  By  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  they 
had  displaced  the  Miami,  and  held  all  the  territory 
around  the  southern  end  of  Lake  Michigan,  one  band 
living  on  the  present  site  of  Chicago. 

The  exact  origin  of  the  name  "Chicago"  is  not  certain. 
In  1721,  Father  Charlevoix,  as  has  been  stated,  derived 
the  name  from  that  of  the  river,  and  it  is  known  that  about 
1725  there  was  an  Illinois  chief  of  this  name — facts  that 
seem  to  point  to  the  Illinois  as  the  name-givers.  In  the 
Sauk,  Fox,  and  Kickapoo  dialects,  however,  it  is  trans- 
lated as  "place  of  the  skunk,"  and  the  Menominee  and 
Ojibwa  have  legends  referring  to  that  animal  in  connection 
with  the  site.  In  1923,  a  well-informed  Potawatomi, 
"White  Pigeon,"  seventy  years  of  age,  stated  that  the 
word  "Chicago"  was  derived  from  a  Potawatomi  word 
which  referred  to  the  "place  of  the  wild  onion,"  which 
grew  so  plentifully  in  the  swamps  in  and  around  Chicago. 
The  name  is  mentioned  in  connection  with  a  Miami  vil- 
lage in  the  period  of  the  earliest  explorations,  between 
1670  and  1700,  but  one  is  tempted  to  attribute  the  name 
to  the  Illinois  who  seem  to  have  been  the  first  historic 
people  to  live  near  the  site.  At  this  late  date  the  question 
is  probably  unanswerable. 

Following  this  period  of  aboriginal  warfare,  of  which 
we  are  only  able  to  catch  glimpses,  came  another  long 
period  of  fighting  in  which  the  French,  British,  and 
Americans  fought  for  a  continent,  and  again  the  region 
here  discussed  was  the  scene  of  a  large  part  of  the  struggle. 


hmH^tU 


Ptauvn 


POTAWATOMI  MEDICINE  BAGS 

The  one  on  the  left  made  of  mink  tkin  with  bead  decormtioni 

The  one  on  th«  right  made  of  otter  akin  with  porcupine  quill  deoorationa 


History  of  the  Tribes  81 

Champlain's  early  battle  against  the  Iroquois  had  given 
the  latter  to  Great  Britain  as  powerful  allies.  In  turn, 
the  majority  of  the  Lake  tribes,  who  feared  the  Iroquois, 
espoused  the  cause  of  France.  As  early  as  1690  a  British 
envoy  came  to  Wisconsin  to  obtain  aid  from  the  Indians, 
but  was  unable  to  conclude  alliances.  During  the  French 
and  Indian  wars  the  Lake  tribes  united  with  the  French, 
and  under  Sieur  Charles  de  Langlade,  in  1755,  were  respon- 
sible for  the  crushing  defeat  of  the  British  forces  under 
General  Braddock.  Toward  the  close  of  the  war,  as  the 
power  of  France  was  waning,  Pontiac,  a  great  chief  of  the 
Ottawa,  organized  a  conspiracy  of  all  the  tribes  against 
the  British.  All  the  forts  save  Detroit  and  Fort  Pitt  were 
captured,  and  their  garrisons  massacred;  but  the  French 
were  already  defeated,  and  the  great  scheme  of  Pontiac 
was  doomed  to  failure.  Failing  to  stir  up  the  tribes  along 
the  Mississippi,  he  finally  made  peace  at  Detroit  in  1765. 
Later,  while  attending  a  drinking  carousal  at  Cahokia, 
Illinois,  he  was  murdered  by  an  Indian  of  the  Kaskaskia 
branch  of  the  Illinois  tribe. 

This  murder  greatly  outraged  the  Lake  tribes,  and  a 
war  of  extermination  was  waged  against  the  Illinois,  reduc- 
ing them  to  a  pitiful  handful  that  took  refuge  with  the 
French  settlers  at  Kaskaskia.  The  murder  of  Pontiac 
occurred  in  1769,  and  by  1800  there  were  only  a  hundred 
and  fifty  Illinois  alive;  thus  as  a  distinct  people  they  fade 
out  of  history.  The  lands  of  the  Illinois  were  taken  over 
by  the  Kickapoo  and  Potawatomi.  On  the  opening  of 
the  Revolutionary  War  the  Potawatomi  sided  with  the 
British,  and  were  active  from  time  to  time  against  the 
United  States,  until  "Mad  Anthony"  Wayne's  victory  at 
Fallen  Timbers  and  the  ensuing  Treaty  of  Greenville  in 
1795.  The  British,  however,  by  generous  trading  and 
bribery  kept  the  allegiance  of  the  Lake  tribes  for  almost 
half  a  century  after  the  Northwest  Territory  passed  out 
of  their  hands.  At  the  time  of  the  Treaty  of  Greenville 
the  Potawatomi  ceded  to  the  United  States  an  area  six  miles 


32  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

square,  located  at  the  southern  end  of  Lake  Michigan. 
There  in  1804-1805,  Fort  Dearborn  was  erected.  Imme- 
diately following  this  treaty  the  Potawatomi  notified 
the  Miami  that  they  intended  moving  down  upon  the 
Wabash  River,  and  shortly  afterward  did  so,  driving  the 
Miami  to  the  northwest  of  that  river.  Thus  the  Pota- 
watomi, occupying  about  fifty  villages,  were  dominant  in 
a  large  territory  that  included  northern  Illinois,  Indiana, 
and  part  of  Michigan. 

Just  prior  to  the  War  of  1812,  Tecumseh  and  his 
brother,  the  Shawnee  Prophet,  organized  a  great  revolt 
among  the  Mississippi  tribes,  but,  influenced  by  John 
Kinsey  and  the  American  officers  at  Fort  Dearborn,  the 
Lake  tribes  were,  on  the  whole,  inactive.  General  Har- 
rison's victory  over  the  Prophet  at  Tippecanoe  ended 
the  revolt,  but  it  was  closely  followed  by  the  second  war 
between  the  British  and  Americans.  Incited  by  the 
British  agents  at  Maiden  and  near-by  posts,  the  Lake 
tribes  created  havoc  along  the  American  frontier.  Threat- 
ened by  superior  forces.  Captain  Heald,  commanding 
Fort  Dearborn,  on  the  site  of  Chicago,  abandoned  the 
fort  against  the  advice  of  Winnimeg,  a  friendly  Pota- 
watomi chief.  The  ensuing  massacre  of  a  large  part  of 
the  garrison  followed.  The  Potawatomi  were  the  tribe 
concerned  in  this  well-known  affair,  certain  of  the  Indians 
distinguishing  themselves  by  their  cruelty,  and  others, 
like  Black  Partridge  and  Waubansee,  by  their  mercy  and 
aid  to  the  survivors.  Captain  Heald,  John  Kinsey,  about 
twenty-five  soldiers,  and  the  majority  of  the  women  were 
protected  by  friendly  Indians,  and  eventually  reached 
safety. 

The  Potawatomi  burned  the  fort,  but  at  the  termination 
of  the  war  in  1816,  it  was  rebuilt.  A  sketch  of  Chicago  as 
it  appeared  in  1820,  four  years  later,  is  reproduced  in 
Plate  II.  A  garrison  was  maintained  here,  off  and  on,, 
until  December  29,  1836,  one  year  before  the  incorpora- 
tion of  the  City  of  Chicago. 


History  of  the  Tribes  33 

The  close  of  the  War  of  1812  practically  marked  the 
end  of  the  Indians'  day  in  the  Northwest  Territory,  for, 
with  peace,  the  rich  lands  of  the  region  began  to  draw 
settlers  in  ever-increasing  numbers.  With  the  settlers 
came  the  military  forces  of  the  United  States,  now  free 
from  the  threat  of  European  interference.  The  Lake 
tribes  who  had  formerly  roamed  at  will  now  began  to  be 
driven  to  the  west.  The  Blackhawk  War  of  1832  was  the 
last  feeble  flare  of  opposition  to  the  American  advance, 
but  the  recalcitrant  Sauk  and  Fox  were  soon  crushed  by 
overwhelmingly  superior  forces.  In  the  same  year  the 
Winnebago  ceded  to  the  United  States  all  their  territory 
southeast  of  the  Wisconsin  and  Fox  rivers.  In  1833,  a 
grand  council  of  chiefs  and  headmen  met  at  Chicago  and 
ceded  all  their  lands  east  of  the  Winnebago  territory. 
The  three  tribes — Potawatomi,  Ottawa,  and  Chippewa — 
who  claimed  to  have  once  been  a  single  people,  were 
represented  at  this  council,  wherein  they  gave  up  all  their 
best  lands,  and  were  assigned  to  various  reservations. 
Two  years  later,  the  Potawatomi  came  to  Chicago  to 
receive  their  annuities  before  leaving  for  their  western 
reserv'ation.  About  5,000  of  the  tribe  were  present,  and 
farewell  ceremonies  were  held  on  leaving  this  rich  territory 
which  they  had  previously  conquered  by  force  of  arms. 
Most  of  the  tribe  were  moved  to  a  reservation  at  Council 
Bluffs,  Iowa,  where  we  have  the  description  of  them  given 
by  Father  De  Smet;  others  fled  to  Canada  and  to  their 
old  territory  in  northern  Wisconsin,  for  they  feared  the 
Sioux,  who  were  to  the  west  of  the  new  reservation. 

The  tide  of  settlers  soon  reached  the  five-million-acre 
reservation  assigned  to  the  Potawatomi  in  Iowa.  In  1846, 
all  those  who  had  not  fled  to  Canada  or  Wisconsin  were 
moved  to  a  new  reservation  in  western  Kansas.  There 
they  remained  until  1868,  when  they  were  again  moved 
into  the  "Indian  Territory"  of  Oklahoma.  As  a  result, 
the  Potawatomi  are  scattered  from  Ontario  and  northern 
Wisconsin,  through  Iowa  and  Kansas,  into  Oklahoma. 


34  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

In  the  former  areas  they  maintained  some  of  their  old 
life,  but  in  the  other  regions  they  have  taken  over  the 
ways  of  their  white  conquerors,  and  many  of  them  have 
become  prosperous  citizens. 

It  has  been  estimated  that  in  1918  there  were  3,731 
Potawatomi  in  the  United  States  and  3,000  in  Canada, 
making  a  total  of  6,731  in  all.  The  Department  of  Com- 
merce report,  in  1910,  gives  the  total  number  of  pure 
blood  Potawatomi  in  the  United  States  as  960,  and  both 
mixed  and  full  bloods  as  2,440.  If  the  figures  given  for 
1918  may  be  trusted,  the  tribe  would  seem  to  be  increasing, 
although  the  1910  report  shows  that  a  great  deal  of  racial 
intermixture  has  taken  place.  In  1905,  according  to  the 
Handbook  of  the  American  Indian,  there  were  only  195 
persons,  mostly  of  mixed  blood,  representing  the  Illinois 
tribes.  The  report  of  1910  does  not  mention  the  Illinois, 
and  gives  the  total  population  of  the  Miami  as  only  226, 
with  merely  59  persons  of  full  blood.  Clearly,  of  the  tribes 
who  once  lived  in  this  region,  the  Potawatomi  alone  have 
survived  in  anything  like  their  old  numbers,  while  the 
Illinois  and  Miami  have  come  almost  to  the  verge  of 
extinction.  Such  were  the  peoples  that  within  the  brief 
space  of  written  history  fought  and  lived  on  the  site  where 
the  City  of  Chicago  now  stands.  Behind  this  realm  of 
history  there  stretches  a  vast  period  of  which  we  may  only 
learn  as  the  work  of  American  archaeology  proceeds. 

William  Duncan  Strong 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Beckwith,  H. 
1884.    The  Illinois  and  Indiana  Indians.    Fergus  Historical  Series, 
No.  27,  Chicago. 
Copy  in  Library  of  Chicago  Historical  Society.   <*^^^»i  ^  H, 

De  Cannes 

1721.      Memoire  concemant  le  pays  Illinois,  pp.  264-362.     Con- 
tained in  a  manuscript  entitled  Memoires  de  TAmerique,  and 
opinion  de  I'origine  de  ses  habitants,  a  la  substitution  du  Valdec 
proche  Solevre  en  Suisse,  1727. 
In  the  Edward  E.  Ayer  collection,  Newberry  Library,  Chicago. 

Hodge,  F. 

1907.     Handbook  of  American  Indians,  Bureau  of  American  Eth- 
nology, Bulletin  No.  30. 
Articles:  Algonquian,  Illinois,  Miami,  Potawatomi,  and  Sauk. 

Lawson,  p. 
1920.     The  Potawatomi.    The  Wisconsin  Archaeologist,  vol.  19, 
No.  2,  pp.  41-116. 

Linton,  R. 

1916.    The  Indian  History  of  Ilhnois.     Illinois  State  Historical 
Library  Publication  No.  22,  pp.  51-57. 
Copy  in  Library  of  Chicago  Historical  Society. 

Skinner,  A. 

1924.     The  Mascoutens  or  Prairie  Potawatomi.    Public  Museum 
of  the  City  of  Milwaukee,  Bulletin,  vol.  6.     Social  Life  and 
Ceremonies,  No.  1. 
1926.    Ibid.  Notes  on  Material  Culture,  No.  2. 


86 


Leaflet  24 


Plate  VIII 


ai 


CEREMONIAL  OBJECTS  OF  THE  POTAWATOMI 

Above,  drum  of  the  Waubano  Society,  with  desisn  symbolirinK  the  dawn 

Below,  two  ceremonial  pipe* 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OP  AMERICA 
BY  PIELD  MUSEUM  PRESS 


